Stock Shaft Anyone?

[Flyers99]

So I have been using my M6 for 2 seasons now. For me have the made for stock Atmos Black in it. Assume it is made for because does not look like after market Fujikura shaft and specs are different. I have tried the new SIM heads and neither of them beat the M6. So I decided to get a look at some shafts to “upgrade”. So over 2 seasons I have tried about 15 premium shaft and none have worked as well as the Black. Tried a few AD shafts, Velocore shafts, Tensei, OBAN, etc.  So, for me I am able to save some money by not buying a shaft and use it elsewhere.  Anyone else find stock shafts that just flat out work? 

[Fairway14]

Miyazaki shafts stock with Cleveland/Srixon clubs are Made in Japan, high quality.

[mvhoffman]

35 minutes ago, Flyers99 said:

So I have been using my M6 for 2 seasons now. For me have the made for stock Atmos Black in it. Assume it is made for because does not look like after market Fujikura shaft and specs are different. I have tried the new SIM heads and neither of them beat the M6. So I decided to get a look at some shafts to “upgrade”. So over 2 seasons I have tried about 15 premium shaft and none have worked as well as the Black. Tried a few AD shafts, Velocore shafts, Tensei, OBAN, etc.  So, for me I am able to save some money by not buying a shaft and use it elsewhere.  Anyone else find stock shafts that just flat out work? 

I'm with you.  I have the stock Ventus Blue in my Sim 2 and love it.  In all fairness, except for "elite" players/WRX-ers, the stock shafts are really good these days compared to years past.  

[MattC555]

I have the stock "made for" Ventus blue in my 3w.  It works fine.  However, I have the Ventus Velecore in my driver.  That shaft is worlds better than whats in my 3w.  They are completely different shafts.  That is not to say modern made for shafts aren't good.  Many of them work quite well. 

[nikeblades00]

Premium driver shafts for your average recreational player are just 1 of the many scams in the golf industry. 

[kmay__]

I've got stock shafts in every club I own, I don't have the play money to be chasing performance through expensive upgrades. I just go play golf to have some fun. 

[Billfitz]

Stock shafts can work just fine if you have the right flex and bend point. The main advantage of testing heads with different shafts is finding out what flex and bend point works best for you. Where very high priced shafts are concerned their main advantage is usually very low torque without being too heavy or too stiff for you. Catch-22 is that if you don't have a high enough swing speed to require a stiffer and/or heavier shaft you probably don't need very low torque either. 

[Dpavs]

I just put a an old Matrix Red Tie in a PXG Proto X+.... it's way better than the newer Everflow CB that came stock. To be clear, my point is not that stock shafts are not good options because I think many of them are... my point is that even older shafts can be a very good option. While there may be some benefits for some, there is nothing magical about the current premium shaft offerings for many of us.

Edited September 22, 2021 by Dpavs

[MattM97]

I was playing the stock Ping Tour shaft in my driver for the last 2 years, it was working just fine until recently and I switched to an aftermarket shaft that's working much better. Would I still be using the stock shaft? Definitely if it was still working well for me. 

[Spongerob]

51 minutes ago, nikeblades00 said:

Premium driver shafts for your average recreational player are just 1 of the many scams in the golf industry. 

Stock shafts are much better now but they used to be horrible if you could swing it over 110. That said I have a Titleist 910 13* 3 wood that I bought new with a stock Diamana Ahina x flex shaft. It was erratic for me but showed potential. My club guy suggested that we tip it a half inch. He tipped it and the club became a great performer. To this day I still wouldn't trade it for anything.

[sfdoddsy]

56 minutes ago, MattC555 said:

I have the stock "made for" Ventus blue in my 3w.  It works fine.  However, I have the Ventus Velecore in my driver.  That shaft is worlds better than whats in my 3w.  They are completely different shafts.  That is not to say modern made for shafts aren't good.  Many of them work quite well. 

 

I'd say they are definitely different. But not necessarily better.

 

I tried out the TM Sim2 with a stock Ventus and with a Velocore Ventus. Both 6R.

 

The Velocore was too low in launch and spin for my swing. The stock Ventus was a noticeably better match. 

 

On the other hand I have the Velocore HB in my hybrids and get noticeably better results than the stock Ventus I tried.

 

I think a bunch of people who insist on the Velocore because it is the cool thing might be better off with the TM Ventus. And of course vice versa.

 

Horses for courses. 

 

 

 

 

[GHIN n Juice]

I’ve always found the previous models stock shaft with the current head works for some reason.  I stumbled upon this with the Matrix Red Tie from a bio cell that I put into a Fly Z+ head and was blown away.  Currently I’m playing a stock HZRDUS Smoke from a Callaway Flash SZ in a SIM2 and I absolute love it!

[MtlJeff]

"Stock" Shaft to me means something a lot different than it did like 20 years ago. Back then you had to get the "made for" shaft or pay like a 300$ upcharge. That really isn't the case anymore.

 

Pretty much everyone on the market has at least 15+ different shafts you can choose from. What is "stock" and what is "aftermarket" anymore? They are all just shafts---Some are just co-made by the OEM and the Shaft guy to fit a wide group of golfers and match the clubs branding and colors etc...

 

Want a different shaft, just get one for free. When i ordered my RadSpeed XB there was like 25 shafts to choose from at no extra cost

 

Even Ping, notorious misers that they are--now offer like 5-6 different ones

 

And yes, the Ping Tour shaft is a perfectly quality shaft

[lazyjc4]

Not in my driver, but the "made for" Ventus in my TEE fairway wood just seems to work.  I've never played a FW shaft that light, and just assumed I'd switch it out, but it's been a great club for me, and the grey Ventus is going to stay!

[grochol17]

"Made for" shafts get a bad rap because people have decided that they must be poor quality.  In reality they are just made with whatever weight/torque/flex profile that an OEM club manufacturer has decided they want for their clubs.  Usually these shafts have a middle-of-the-road set of specs so it isn't necessary to use the fancy materials, but it doesn't mean the made for shafts are poorly built... it isn't like there is a rash of stock shafts failing and if they were bad shafts and hit the ball shorter, no one would buy the clubs.

 

All that really matters is whether or not a shaft fits the golfer.  It sounds like the stock Atmos Black works better for you than any other shaft you've tried, so clearly that shaft fits you quite well.

[ChipNRun]

3 hours ago, nikeblades00 said:

Premium driver shafts for your average recreational player are just 1 of the many scams in the golf industry. 

 

The made for shafts are often developed from an earlier model custom shaft. The earlier model is then tweaked for the audience that's most likely to use the given club or clubs.

 

That said, it's important to get fitted to get the stock shaft that's best for you. Consider the Mavrik driver stock offerings:

 

For me, the Helium is just too feathery, hard to drop into slot. Tried it in Callaway woods and a variation in Ping irons.

Aldila Rogue is just too robust for me, felt I was fighting the shaft.

PX Evenflow in 50G would be the one I would choose. Either the 5.5 or the 6.0, both weigh 53 grams and have 5.4 torque and Mid Launch and Mid Spin.

 

(P.S. I am keeping my current driver; its Tensei CK Blue 2G 50 shaft has almost identical weight and dynamics to the EF 50G.)

[hammergolf]

4 hours ago, Flyers99 said:

So I have been using my M6 for 2 seasons now. For me have the made for stock Atmos Black in it. Assume it is made for because does not look like after market Fujikura shaft and specs are different. I have tried the new SIM heads and neither of them beat the M6. So I decided to get a look at some shafts to “upgrade”. So over 2 seasons I have tried about 15 premium shaft and none have worked as well as the Black. Tried a few AD shafts, Velocore shafts, Tensei, OBAN, etc.  So, for me I am able to save some money by not buying a shaft and use it elsewhere.  Anyone else find stock shafts that just flat out work? 

There is no such thing as a bad shaft. It may not work for you, but it could be perfect for someone else. My advice would be if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.

[ShortGolfer]

I weigh 110 lbs.  It is no surprise that the lightest and most flexible shafts often work well with my swing.   

 

Today I was practicing with a LL shafted Apex 19 7I and a Helium 4 shafted Mavrik Max 11 wood.  Felt I had good control today,

 

But, I haven't found a shaft for my Epic Flash that works as well as my 2004 360cc Big Bertha with a 55g Gems shaft.

So far I've tried a 45 g Evenflow and a 40 g Diamana..

 

Edited September 22, 2021 by ShortGolfer

[Flyers99]

I am at around 95-100 driver swing speed so I do believe I’d probably have a better chance getting along with a stick shaft then a faster swinger 

[Tasals]

For years I played the Hzrdus Black 75 6.5 stock shaft since the M1. I was fit for that shaft at TXG back in the day, it gave me basically the same numbers to a Tensei Pro White 70x and was marginally slower in ball speed than the Hulk shaft but 1000 dollars less when it was brand new. Never got to try the Hand Made version, but I never had a major issue with the stock shaft until the driver head went flying down the first hole of the course this summer.

[RogerinNewZealand]

Now and then all that R & D proves a point.Us sub 100mph guys shouldnt be hard to fit....hitting 70% of fairways used to be normal....

[jholz]

@MtlJeff makes a good point. There is a big difference between the "made for" shafts of several years ago and the "stock" shafts of today. Quality and performance, by and large, is much better today that it used to be. 

 

Like a lot of golf fitting, I think there are always going to be outliers who will genuinely "need" a custom shaft.

 

But, I also think the OEM's know what they are doing. They don't just pick a random shaft, obviously. They are going to try to do their best to find something that matches the characteristics of the head and provides the best performance for the widest range of golfers.

 

Unless you are one of those exceptional players, I'd say reserve your judgement of the stock shaft until you have the chance to test it. You might be pleasantly surprised. 

Edited September 22, 2021 by jholz
I'm an idiot.

[bobfoster]

7 hours ago, Flyers99 said:

So I have been using my M6 for 2 seasons now. For me have the made for stock Atmos Black in it. Assume it is made for because does not look like after market Fujikura shaft and specs are different. I have tried the new SIM heads and neither of them beat the M6. So I decided to get a look at some shafts to “upgrade”. So over 2 seasons I have tried about 15 premium shaft and none have worked as well as the Black. Tried a few AD shafts, Velocore shafts, Tensei, OBAN, etc.  So, for me I am able to save some money by not buying a shaft and use it elsewhere.  Anyone else find stock shafts that just flat out work? 

 

You actually make a very good point. I do think that there are lower-end models of clubs by some big OEMs that try to compete almost solely on price, and try to make money on quantity - the cheaper you get, the lower the per-unit margin.  They don't really stick the best shafts in them, but then again the people buying based solely on price may not be able to tell the difference between shafts anyway. (There are a lot of golfers that only play two or three times a year, for business conferences or events with friends, etc., and could really care less about their clubs.)

 

At the premium level however, high-end Titleist, Mizuno, etc., etc., their choices of stock shafts are usually pretty good. They are selling to people that can tell the difference, and have a vested interest in having their clubs feel and perform really well. It would almost embarrassing, and bad for marketing, to stick a cheap shaft in a $600 driver. That said, they are chosen for the norm, and if someone's game is outside of that, replacing the shafts make sense. Someone with a 115 - 120 driver swing speed is probably not going to find a club with a stock shaft that works for them. No OEM picks a stock shaft that will only work for 5% of their market. 

 

But for the normal golfer buying a good club, IMO stock shafts may often be just fine, as it is likely that the club manufacturers themselves already tried a number of different shafts before picking their stocks. (I may well, however, be wrong about this.)